Excerpt: "The price of the victory over the Saints for Antrel Rolle was a deep gash in his tongue, with a chunk of flesh flapping off the side, as well as a case of whiplash.

The price of the loss to the Falcons was worse. The Giants safety was tormented by his performance, including a handful of missed tackles that were not representative of the fight he tries to infuse on a weekly basis to the defense.

“I definitely wasn’t able to provide that for them this past week, which kind of made me sick to my stomach with myself,” Rolle said. “I felt like (crap), really, I really did, because I know that’s not the way I play football.”

Rolle doesn’t wear a captain’s “C” on his jersey, but in his three seasons with the Giants, the seven-year veteran has come to bear the role of an emotional leader for the defense.

His voice can resonate through the locker room, whether it be his message to “sacrifice your mind” before the Packers victory or to have “more dog” before the Saints game. He’s also part of the handful of players on coach Tom Coughlin’s leadership council, which meets with Coughlin regularly through the season, most recently this past Thursday after practice.

Rolle is proud to acknowledge that his fiery leadership follows in the tradition set by two University of Miami predecessors who will be on the other sideline tomorrow: Ravens linebacker Ray Lewis, who the Giants are expecting to make his long-awaited return from a triceps tear, and safety Ed Reed.

“Ray trickled down to Ed; Ed trickled down to myself,” Rolle said. “I played with Ed Reed (in college), and he’s probably one of the best leaders I’ve ever been around in my career. They’ll definitely be ready. They’ll be ready, at all costs, without a doubt.” Read more...

NorwoodBlue

12-22-2012, 01:53 PM

Rolle is the king of saying stupid crap during the week; but I have to admit he seemed to get things going last year when he called some people out. I think he needs to be brutally honest about a lot of people including himself. Everyone needs to start playing better, and playing hard every play. I'm really sick of seeing teams convert 3 and a country mile over and over again. There are games these guys could have won except for one or two very long third down conversions that the defense gave up.

egyptian420

12-22-2012, 01:56 PM

Rolle will tell the ugly truth regardless of how it makes people feel, and he's definitely one of the most confident (borderline ****y) guys on this D, I hope he puts some fire into the D for this game because it sure as hell isn't coming from Tuck on the sideline while his shoulder is wrapped and he's emotionally drained

primetime

12-22-2012, 01:58 PM

Rolle will tell the ugly truth regardless of how it makes people feel, and he's definitely one of the most confident (borderline ****y) guys on this D, I hope he puts some fire into the D for this game because it sure as hell isn't coming from Tuck on the sideline while is shoulder is wrapped and he's emotionally drained

Rolle is a leader in my book. He holds players accountable and speaks the truth.

RoanokeFan

12-22-2012, 01:59 PM

Rolle is the king of saying stupid crap during the week; but I have to admit he seemed to get things going last year when he called some people out. I think he needs to be brutally honest about a lot of people including himself. Everyone needs to start playing better, and playing hard every play. I'm really sick of seeing teams convert 3 and a country mile over and over again. There are games these guys could have won except for one or two very long third down conversions that the defense gave up.

He hasn't been wrong yet

egyptian420

12-22-2012, 02:02 PM

Rolle is a leader in my book. He holds players accountable and speaks the truth.+1...With exception to a few wack comments he made after first coming here (ex. the comments him and KP made about Coughlin, him comparing the team to war vets)....he's actually been pretty behaved since then and he's saying what needs to be told

FlyingTruck

12-22-2012, 02:05 PM

I've liked Rolle since we signed him. He IS a leader, and quite frankly after Strahan left and before Rolle got signed, we didn't really have much of a leader on defense. Is he the best? No. But he's blunt and truthful and I believe it helps out to a certain degree.

RagTime Blue

12-22-2012, 02:09 PM

Preparation > Motivation

talbot

12-22-2012, 02:21 PM

Preparation > Motivation

Execution > Preparation > Motivation

Buddy333

12-22-2012, 03:05 PM

Blackburn looks like he would be a good leader.

moosedrool

12-22-2012, 03:18 PM

This motivational stuff for Rolle will work until it doesn't. And when it doesn't, things snowball downhill fast.

Bottom line: the motivational mouth of Rolle is overrated. What matters is to have your best players healthy this time of year like the Giants did last year. This year they don't, especially Nicks not being even close to the player he was last year.